See also: 1976 in Canada, other events of 1977, 1978 in Canada and the Timeline of Canadian history.
Contents |
Incumbents
- Monarch: Queen Elizabeth II
- Governor General: Jules Léger
- Prime Minister: Pierre Trudeau
- Premier of Alberta: Peter Lougheed
- Premier of British Columbia: W.R. Bennett
- Premier of Manitoba: Edward Schreyer and then Sterling Lyon
- Premier of New Brunswick: Richard Hatfield
- Premier of Newfoundland: Frank Moores
- Premier of Nova Scotia: Gerald Regan
- Premier of Ontario: Bill Davis
- Premier of Prince Edward Island: Alexander B. Campbell
- Premier of Quebec: René Lévesque
- Premier of Saskatchewan: Allan Blakeney
Events
- January 1: Canada's offshore exclusive economic zone is extended to 200 nautical miles (370 km).
- February 6: René Lévesque is embroiled in scandal after he, while driving in a car with a woman who is not his wife, hits and kills a homeless man .
- February 27: Royal Canadian Mounted Police raid Keith Richards's Toronto hotel suite while he is sleeping and seize 22 grams of heroin, 5 grams of cocaine, and narcotics paraphernalia.
- February 28: Canadian passenger rail services are amalgamated into VIA Rail.
- April 7: The Toronto Blue Jays play their first game, defeating the Chicago White Sox.
- May 5: Willie Adams becomes the first Inuk to enter Parliament when he is appointed to the Senate.
- May 9: The final report of the Mackenzie Valley Pipeline Inquiry is released.
- June: Queen Elizabeth II tours Canada as part of her Jubilee goodwill tour.
- June 9: Ontario election: Bill Davis's PCs win a second consecutive minority.
- August: Murder of Emanuel Jaques.
- August 26: The Charter of the French Language is passed by the Parti Québécois.
- September 3 to September 5: All Canadian road signs are converted to metric units.
- October 18: Deliberations of the House of Commons are televised for the first time making Canada the first country to broadcast the complete proceedings of its national legislature.
- November 21: Gerald Hannon's controversial article "Men Loving Boys Loving Men" is published in The Body Politic
- November 24: Sterling Lyon becomes premier of Manitoba, replacing Edward Schreyer.
- The Eaton Centre opens in Toronto.
- Prime Minister Trudeau separates from his wife Margaret Sinclair.
- Quebec becomes the first jurisdiction (larger than a city or county) in the world to prohibit discrimination in the public and private sectors based on sexual orientation.
Arts and literature
- New works
- Margaret Atwood: Dancing Girls
- Elizabeth Smart: A Bonus
- Timothy Findley: The Wars
- Irving Layton: The Covenant
- Roch Carrier: Il n'ya pas de pays sans grand-père
- Gabrielle Roy: Ces Enfants de ma vie
- Morley Callaghan: Close to the Sun Again
- Antonine Maillet: La Veuve enragée
- Mordecai Richler: Home Sweet Home
- Marshall McLuhan: City as Classroom: Understanding Language and Media
- Awards
- See 1977 Governor General's Awards for a complete list of winners and finalists for those awards.
- Books in Canada First Novel Award: Michael Ondaatje, Coming Through Slaughter
- Stephen Leacock Award: Ray Guy, That Far Greater Bay
- Vicky Metcalf Award: James Houston
Births
- February 11: Stephanie Richardson, swimmer
- March 13: Barney Williams, rower
- March 27: Buffy-Lynne Williams, Olympic rower
- March 28: Trevor Stewardson, boxer
- May 4: Emily Perkins, actor
- May 16: Jean-Sébastien Giguère, ice hockey goaltender
- April 5: Zach Whitmarsh, track and field athlete
- April 21: Jamie Salé, figure skater
- April 26: Craig Adams, hockey player
- June 12: Wade Redden, ice hockey player
- June 27: Kristen Taunton, field hockey forward
- July 1: Jarome Iginla, ice hockey player
- August 1: Marc Denis, ice hockey goaltender
- August 14: Tonya Verbeek, Olympic wrestler
- August 15: Martin Biron, ice hockey goalie
- August 24: Murray Grapentine, volleyball player
- September 17: Kim Sarrazin, Olympic softballer
- September 29: Wade Brookbank, ice hockey player
- October 3: Kristy Odamura, Olympic softballer
- October 6: Daniel Brière, ice hockey player
- October 18: Paul Stalteri, soccer player
- October 27: Erin White, Olympic softballer
- October 29: Matt Higgins, ice hockey player
- December 16: Éric Bélanger, ice hockey player
- December 29: Christin Petelski, breaststroke swimmer
Deaths
- January 24: Jack Bush, painter
- February 17: Edward LeRoy Bowerman, politician
- June 24: André-Gilles Fortin, politician
- November 3: William Korelek, artist
- November 5 : Guy Lombardo, bandleader
- November 25: Tommy Prince, Second World War hero
- Alfred Henry Bence, politician
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